Stalk, Avoid or Deny Deny Deny
by Light bulb-sama
Summary: Being a teenager can be hard; especially when your best friend’s older brother is unreasonably attractive, you fall off a roof naked, and you are in desperate need of a cup of coffee.
1. Mornings

Stalk, Avoid or Deny, Deny, Deny

Summary: Being a teenager can be hard; especially when your best friend's older brother is unreasonably attractive, you fall off a roof naked, and you are in desperate need of a cup of coffee.

A/N - Hi there minna! OK so this is my second series I'm starting and it's going to be in modern times, I'm using my original character from my other story. OK! On with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own kenshin… But I did dress up as him for Halloween.

Chapter 1

MORNINGS

Himura Nisa did not like mornings. In fact, she despised them, in her opinion there was nothing in this world that could possibly be more depressing, than waking up in the morning and realizing that you have to face another day. Not that she wasn't a happy person or anything, but her bed was warm, anything outside the blissful encompass of her blanket wasn't, and it was way to early in the morning to even _think _about being cheerful.

As Nisa lay in bed listening to the loud, ceaseless beeping of her alarm clock she could only think about three things: how badly she needed coffee, taking something heavy and smashing her alarm clock into a thousand pieces, and killing her older brother. No, Himura Nisa was not an unhappy, angry, or in anyway unpleasant person. In fact she was a very cheerful and energetic girl, but at the moment it was 6:00 in the morning, it was Monday, her alarm clock sounded like a donkey in heat and her older brother's dumb friends had, despite the fact it had been Sunday, stayed the night and kept her awake until 2:00 in the morning listening to the sounds of them blowing people up in whatever graphic, violent video game it was that they were playing.

Nisa rolled over and turned off her alarm clock. After, reluctantly, leaving her warm, inviting bed and giving it one last longing glance she headed for the shower in the bathroom adjoining her bedroom.

After dressing in a pair of dark blue, tight fitting jeans, a blue v-neck sweater and socks that had happy bunnies on them, and putting her dark red hair in two braids, Nisa headed down stairs into the kitchen where she found her brother and his friends attempting to make breakfast. Her older brother Kenshin was standing in front of the stove, already dressed for school in dark blue jeans and a green sweater, his bright red hair tied into a short ponytail at the base of his neck. His best friend, Sagara Sanosuke, was not looking quite as composed, wearing a singlet top and silver-gray track shorts, with a large bowl and wooden spoon in his hands. Nisa slowly looked Sanosuke over; he had his usual cocky, lopsided grin on his face and was completely covered in batter of some sort (Kami knows what it was they were making). Nisa noticed he had managed to get batter in his spiky brown hair, as well as on the front of his shirt, which covered his muscled chest and abdomen… Not that she was looking or anything! Nisa quickly diverted her gaze to the only other occupant of the room; Kenshin's long time friend Shinomori Aoshi, who was sitting at the kitchen island, drinking a cup of tea and reading the news paper. Nisa surveyed the scene in front of her once more before heading for the coffee maker.

There was an energetic knocking at the door. Nisa looked over her shoulder at Kenshin who was now sitting with Aoshi and Sanosuke, who had finally gotten dressed, at the island. Nisa now occupied the place in front of the stove. " Kenshin are you going to get the door?"

"Why don't you get it?"

"Because I'm making you breakfast"

"But it's your friend" said Kenshin, already knowing who it was at the front door.

"Ok then, I'll go answer the door and leave your food unattended so that it can burn."

"I'LL GET THE DOOR," said Sano quickly jumping up, not wishing to risk loosing his breakfast. Walking to the front door Sano opened it to reveal Nisa's best friend, one Makimachi Misao.

"Rooster head, don't you ever go home?" said Misao by way of greeting as she walked into the front room dropping her school bag on the floor.

"And good morning to you to" Sano snorted turning back to walk in to the Himura's Kitchen. Misao followed behind him, turning the corner to see her best friend who was sitting on the kitchen counter drinking what Misao guessed would be her third cup of coffee that morning. Her brother was sitting at the island eating breakfast with; Misao blushed lightly, the object of her affection, Shinomori Aoshi. Misao had had a crush on Aoshi since she was 13. She had come over to hang out with Nisa, and he had been there with Kenshin, in the pool, wet and gorgeous. She had been obsessed ever since and was sick with envy at Nisa who had him at her house almost every day and frequently the entire night as well. Nisa, being the good friend she was, invited Misao over for sleepovers as often as she could if she knew Kenshin was going to have Aoshi over as well. She knew Misao would sulk if she missed out on an opportunity to see Aoshi in his pajama pants and possibly, if the gods were feeling generous, shirtless as well.

"Hey Misao, want some breakfast?" asked Nisa

"No thanks Ni, I already ate" Misao smiled cheerfully at Nisa before turning to the other two occupants of the kitchen who she had not already greeted or, in Sanosuke's case, insulted. "Hey Kenshin, Aoshi" said Misao, blushing again as she turned to face her obsession.

"Good morning Misao" said Kenshin smiling at her.

Aoshi merely nodded his head at her before returning to reading his paper.

Misao sighed inwardly. She doubted she would ever be able to get much more than that out of him. Four years she had known him, they went to the same high school; Aoshi, Kenshin and Sanosuke were seniors and Nisa and her were a year younger, they slept in the same house at least once a week due to there mutual friendship with one of the Himura siblings, and yet, he had barely even spoken a complete sentence to her in all that time. ' I mean I know that he is a quiet and withdrawn guy, but come ON, ONE sentence- just a simple ' why hello Misao you are looking lovely today would you like to strip me naked and tickle me with a feather?' that's all I ask for'. Misao snorted mentally at herself 'jeez Makimachi way to take _that_to far'. Instead of dwelling on thoughts of Aoshi and feathers she hopped up on the counter beside Nisa grabbing the cup out of her hands and taking a large gulp. She quickly returned the coffee to its rightful owner when Nisa shot her the glare of death; _no one _messed with Nisa when it came to her and her coffee. Misao gave Nisa a huge grin as she leant over and whispered in her ear " rooster-head's lookin' pretty good this morning don't cha think?"

Nisa gasped in mock horror

"Misao! Don't tell me your having less than pure thoughts about someone _other_ than your Aoshi! I _thought_ that you were a faithful little stalker."

"Hey, I'm loyal to my obsession, I just thought you might appreciate my pointing out that _your _obsession happens to be looking particularly whipable this fine morning."

Nisa made a face a Misao "he is _not_ my obsession, _I'm _not the maniac here. And jeez Misao, what is with your fetish with whips and feathers?"

The kitchen went quiet as those last words left Nisa's lips, slightly louder than she had intended. Nisa and Misao looked over at the boys, all of whom were staring at Misao with wide eyes.

" orooroooro"

"heh heh heh" Misao laughed embarrassedly " time to go to school" she said jumping off the counter and hurrying into the front room to grab her book bag. Nisa staggered after her, hardly able to breath she was laughing so hard.

(In Kenshin's car)

Loud music blasted form the car as Nisa leaned over the passenger side seat talking to Misao who was in the back, Sano sang loudly along with the music, Aoshi stared out the window and Kenshin tried to concentrate on the road. Pulling into the student's parking lot they all piled out of the car.

" Do you need a ride home after school?" Kenshin asked Nisa

" No I think me and 'sao are going to go shopping, so I'll walk home" she said as the bell rang. " See to you later, guys" She and misao waved.

"See you, Ducky-chan" Sano called back winking at Nisa, before he turned and followed Kenshin and Aoshi.

"Why does he always call me Ducky?" Nisa wondered with a frown.

"Well," Misao began, with a pondering look on her face, "it's either because he finds the differences between you and waterfowl indistinguishable, or because he enjoys teasing you, as he is infatuated with your ravishing beauty." She sent an all-too-sweet smile at Nisa, who had a thoughtful look on her face.

"He just likes bugging cause I'm Ken's sister" Nisa said with a decisive nod

"Well why'd you even ask then, Mrs. Omniscient" Misao grumbled

Nisa ignored her as they headed off to their first period class together, history with Saito Hajime. Misao and Nisa both stood outside the class room door and took a deep breath-

"Kami- Sama help us"


	2. Family Life

Stalk, avoid, deny, deny, deny

ch.2 family life

disclaimer: Kenshin is'nt mine

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"Ooooo, I bet Aoshi would like to see you in that," Nisa and Misao were in the dressing room of a new clothing store downtown. Misao was staring at her reflection in the 

mirror, and wearing a very short, tight, strapless, leopard print dress that Nisa had dared her to try on.

Misao laughed, " Yeah, right he's never given me a second thought!" 

" Well he might now that he know about the whips and feathers" Nisa grinned.

Misao blushed and punched her. " Shut the hell up. How come it is that _you_ seem to be the main source for all my humiliation?"

" I'm your best friend, that's what I'm here for. I think you should buy the leopard print dress."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I dare you."

Misao's eyes gleamed. Makimachi Misao _never_ backed down from a dare.

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Nisa shut the front door to her house behind her and ran up to her room. Taking the new clothes she had bought, she folded them and put them in her drawers. She 

surveyed her room; it was, as always, immaculate. Her bed was made, books aligned on the shelves, clothes folded and put into the drawers, carpets vacuumed, shelves 

dusted. To say that Nisa was a neat freak would be an understatement. She had just brought out her duster when her brother walked into her room and sat down on her 

bed. Nisa sighed and begrudgingly put the duster back before sitting down beside Kenshin.

Kenshin looked around Nisa's room. His eyes scanned the pictures on her walls of the two of them and of Nisa and her other friends, then the high shelves nailed to her 

walls that displayed her various trophies from dance; Nisa had been doing ballet since she was 5 years old, it was her passion, well, that and coffee. Nisa heard him sigh

before he spoke.

"Tomoe and I broke up." Nisa looked up at him in surprise 

"I'm so sorry Kenshin."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow at her, "what are you talking about, you hated Tomoe."

"No I didn't, I just thought she was a bit…. morose" Nisa defended " and her brother was really creepy" she added as an afterthought. Nisa saw the corners of Kenshin's 

mouth upturn slightly. "So, what happened?" The slight smile fell from Kenshin's features immediately.

" She was cheating on me" Kenshin frowned " some guy from the Kendo team we're fighting against in the next match, Akira or something like that." Kenshin sighed again. 

" Well," Nisa said, "if the guy has any brains at all he'll break his leg before the next match, other wise it'll be his neck." She heard Kenshin laugh at that and leaned her head

on his shoulder. They stayed like that until they heard a car pull up in their driveway.

"Sounds like dad is back" Nisa said, standing to look out her window to her father's car, now parked in the driveway, a floor below. 

" About time." Said Kenshin "I'm going to go make supper, any requests?" 

"No, I can make it if you like"

"No it's ok, I want to" Kenshin smiled once more before turning and heading down the stairs. Nisa got up after him and followed his path down stairs and through to the 

living room where her dad now sat reading a paper in a dress shirt and suit pants, his discarded jacket hanging over the back of the couch. 

"Hey tou-san" said Nisa as she leaned over the back of the couch and hugged Hiko Seijurou around the neck.

" What's been happening while I was gone?" Hiko asked casually

"Nothing much, Kenshin just started supper, and me and Misao went shopping today" 

" Ah, how is the weasel?"

"Crazy as ever" Nisa grinned

"Did Kenshin and the Rooster head cause trouble?"

"Yes, but nothing I couldn't handle" Nisa said as she somersaulted over the back of the couch, ending up in a half-seated, half-sprawled position. "How was your 

conference?"

"It went well." Hiko was the C.E.O of a sake company and he traveled a lot, so Nisa and Kenshin stayed at home by themselves for weeks sometimes. 

Nisa heard the phone ring and rolled off the couch, then hopped up to answer it.

"mochi mochi!"

" Hey Nisa." It was Misao.

"Hey. What's going on?"

"Nothing much, I'm bored, what's up over there?"

"My dad just got home"

"Awesome! Say hi from me."

"Tou-san Misao says hey!" Nisa called over her shoulder as she retreated into her basement. The basement of their house was a sort of rec room. It had dark blue walls, two 

large comfy leather sofas, a big screen TV, sound system and her brother's game system. Adjoining the main room was a bathroom, spare bedroom and laundry room (A.K.A 

her brother's sanctuary). "So, what's up?" Nisa asked as she held the phone between her shoulder and ear while searching through the channels to see what was on TV. 

" Arrgg! Jiya is being a creepy old man again" 

Nisa listened as Misoa ranted about her grandfather, only half paying attention, and the other half on the TV 

"So" said Misao into the receiver, after he rant had finally ended "did you see how _delectable_ Aoshi was looking today?"

Nisa sighed.

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Three hours later Misao hung up the phone and rolled over on her bed, lying on her stomach. She realized she was extremely hungry. She got off her bed and waded her 

way through the sea of clothing and junk that had amounted in her disaster of a bedroom. Misao liked her room this way, well, more like she hated cleaning. Nisa just about 

had a stroke every time she came into Misao's room. She hopped down the stairs two at a time, and headed for the kitchen, there was always something good for Misao to 

eat, even at this time of night, because they lived on top of the restaurant her grandpa, Okina, owned. 

She spooned large amounts of cappuccino ice cream into a bowl and sat on the counter to eat it. 

"Misao-chan, do you really think you should be eating so much ice cream at 10:30 at night?" 

Misao, in a truly mature fashion, stuck her tongue out at Omasu, a waitress at the restaurant who also lived with them, along with her sister Okon. Omasu sighed as she 

placed the serving tray and empty teacup, that that previously held Okina's tea, on the counter and turned towards the door again.

"Goodnight Misao-chan, sleep well.' 

"Night Omasu." 

Misao quickly finished her ice cream, and then headed back up to her room. She walked past her grandpa's office on the way down the hall, and poked head in.

"Hey jiya"

Okina looked up from his paperwork " Ahh, my pretty misao come here." He said cheerfully, motioning for her to enter. Misao hopped up on his desk. " So Misao, how have 

you been? I haven't had the chance to talk to you in awhile."

"I'm fine Jiya"

"And how is that handsome young friend of yours…Aoshi is it?

"Jiya!"

Okina grinned at her " I'm just inquiring into the life of my granddaughter, what's so wrong with asking about the strapping young man she has her eyes on?"

"GOODNIGHT JIYA" Misa said loudly, getting off the desk and leaving the room.

"Good night pretty" Okina called back, laughing loudly.

Misao growled. This is what she had to put up with.

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Well there it is. It took me a very long time to get this out because my computer broke down and yada yada yada... Anyways,

Please Review! 


	3. New Arrivals

CH.3

New Arrivals

Author notes: Thank you so much to Katerineious for reviewing. Yes, Kaoru will be making her appearance in this chapter, we wouldn't want Kenshin to be lonely ne?

Disclaimer: Only in my dreams...

- --

The rest of the week passed nearly incident free. Nisa twisted her ankle in dance, Misao fell into Nisa's pool fully clothed, Sano lit their kitchen table on fire, Kenshin slowly recuperated from his beak up with Tomoe, but stubbed his

toe on the coffee table, Aoshi drank several cups of tea, Okina chased three unwitting teenage girls down the street, and Hiko became agitated on more than one occasion. Needless to say, the coming of Friday brought with it a

great sense of glee, and both Misao and Nisa were cheerful when they woke up that morning.

They walked into their homeroom class, social studies, and took their customary seats near the back, beside one of their close friends Sojirou.

"Hey sou-chan" Nisa said as she sat down in the desk in front of him "did you finish your report?"

Soujirou smiled guiltily and scratched the back of his head "umm, well I was going to but…"

"Say no more my friend" Misao sat down on soujirou's right " I didn't do it either"

Nisa gasped "naughty, naughty Misao and Soujirou"; she wagged a mocking finger in their faces. Misao was about to smack the offending finger out of the way, when their teacher entered the room. Kamatari- sensei strode, swaying his hips more than was strictly necessary, to the front of the room to address the class.

"Good morning class" Kamatari-sensei sang in an overly cheerful voice, and then paused, looking expectantly at his students.

"Good morning Kamatari-sensei " the class chanted back in bored voices

"Before we begin class today, I have a surprise for you all!"

In unison, the entire class shuttered. They could only guess what kind of 'surprise' their teacher had in store for them. But, before the class's imagination could run away with them, Kamatari gestured toward the door with a dramatic sweep of his arm

"We have a new student! Come on in Mrs. Kamiya."

The classroom door opened and a pretty girl with raven hair tied back in a high ponytail, and big blues eyes, stepped in. Kamatari-sensei waved her over and she shuffled over to stand by his side facing the class. She looked nervous, and then slightly traumatized as Kamatari- sensei put his arm around her.

"Everybody, this is Kamiya Kaoru, she just moved here and I trust every one will make her feel welcome by showing off our school spirit!" At this, Kaoru heard several people give off derisive snorts. She waved meekly at the class. Several boys at the far end of the class waved back enthusiastically, with snickering looks on their faces, Kaoru blushed and looked at her feet.

" Well Kaoru- chan, why don't you take the empty seat there beside Nisa- chan, Nisa could you please raise your hand." Kaoru saw a lazy hand raise into the air, attached to which was a stunning girl with dark hair, that had a definite red tinge to it when it hit the light. She wore her hair woven into two braids, and had deep brown eyes. Kaoru headed towards the girl and sat down carefully, just as Kamatari-sensei began his lesson in a loud voice, and the class began to tune him out. The girl she had sat beside, Nisa, leaned over to her and held out her hand,

"Hey Kaoru, nice to meet you" she said smiling. Kaoru smiled back and shook her hand, grateful for anyone who looked remotely friendly.

"In the future, I'd advise you to keep at least a 10 foot distance between yourself and Kamatari at all times" Kaoru heard a voice behind her say. She turned to see a petite girl with beautiful blue eyes and long black hair pulled into a braid. "I'm Misao" the girl continued, " and this is Soujirou" Karou looked to the boy Misao had just introduced. He had short black hair and a smile on his face. They all looked like friendly people. Kaoru found herself smiling, and some of her nervousness dissipating.

"It's really nice to meet your guys"

- --

The bell for lunch rang as Komagata-sensei (who she insisted her students call Yumi-sensei as she was still 'brimming with youth' and thought that 'Komagata-sensei' made her sound too old) dismissed her ethical living class.

"Remember, I want a one page report on 'your special place' for Monday. She said in a sultry voice, still managing to be heard clearly over the cacophony of 20 or so hungry student eager to exit the classroom. She then winked at the

students or rested her hand on their shoulders and backs as they filed into the hall. Misao, Nisa and Soujiro ushered Kaoru to follow them as they headed outside to eat lunch on the lawn.

"So Kaoru," Misao began, as she bounced cheerfully down the halls, " what do you think of your classes so far?"

Kaoru pondered the question for a moment before replying, "well, Kamatari- sensei was a bit, umm…."

"Traumatizing?" Nisa provided for her.

"Emotionally scarring?" Soujiro volunteered

"nauseating" Kaoru decided on, and they all laughed "and 'Yumi- san' seems nice, if not a little bit…."

"Skanky?" Misao put in.

"Was is just me, or was she flirting with soujiro-san?" Kaoru asked

"Nope, it's not just you, she does that."

"Oh, I see" Kaoru said, with wide eyes, she paused and then asked "is she allowed to show that much cleavage?"

"No," answered Soujiro "but I'm sure not complaining"

"Soujiro!" The girls exclaimed.

He just looked at them, his ever-present smile widening slightly, as he brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head.

After they had eaten, the four of them sprawled on the lawn together. Soujiro lay on his back with his hands behind his head, Nisa was laying on her back while using Soujiro's legs as a pillow, and Misao was sprawled, face down in

the grass, unmoving. Kaoru leaned against a tree while observing the trio, a small smile playing on her lips, she really was glad she had met them. They were very nice people, and Kaoru was astonished at how easily she had made

friends here; at her old school she had been on her own , always very quiet and shy, she hadn't really had any friends.

"So Kaoru, you moved here from out of town?" Soujiro asked, starting up a conversation again, as he gazed listlessly at the clouds.

"Yes, me and my little brother Yahiko, he's eleven."

"What about your parents?" asked Misao.

Kaoru looked at her hands, "well, my mother passed away after giving birth to Yahiko, and my dad died last year, which is why we moved, we couldn't afford to stay in our old house."

" That's awful Kaoru, I'm really sorry," said Nisa

"Jeez, that sucks," said Misao, looking regretful "we know."

"Do you?" asked Kaoru, looking up again

"Yeah, both my parents died when I was a baby, so I live with my grandpa, the crazy old pervert"

"And my mom died giving birth to me" added Sojirou, smile still in place.

"My mom died when I was six," concluded Nisa.

"Gosh," said Kaoru " we could form a club"

They all laughed lightly, and then got up as they heard the bell ring, signaling the end of lunch.

"Ok, off to my next class" Soujiro said, brushing the dirt off his pants "Kaoru-san, welcome to our family. I apologize in advance" He then waved and walked off. Kaoru stared after him, a bemused look on her face.

"Well, I have a spare. I think I'll go stake out Aoshi's locker" Misao decided.

" What?" asked Kaoru. Nisa shook her head negatively at her,

"Believe me, you don't want to know. Hey, I have an idea though, Kaoru why don't you come over for a sleepover with me and Misao at my place tonight?"

Kaoru smiled brightly. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. We'll get a movie and eat a ton of ice cream or something," said Nisa, Misao behind her nodding for emphasis.

"Okay, that's sounds really good"

"Perfect, come over at around six okay? And we'll eat supper."

"Alright. Well, um, I have to get to my next class, see you guys tonight." Kaoru waved and headed back towards the school.

"You know," said Misao " she's kinda shy, I hope our insanity doesn't scare her away."

"She'll be fine, just try not to mention the whips and feathers to her though".

Misao spun around and punched her friend in the arm.

"Shut up, totally not funny".

Nisa was already on the ground laughing like a lunatic.

--

Kaoru was horribly lost, and she was already ten minutes late for class. She had been wandering up and down this same hallway for the last five, and she was starting to get very frustrated. 'Where the hell am I' she screamed

mentally, and then spun around angrily, only to collide with something solid, or rather, some_one_ solid. All of her books went tumbling out of her arms. She bent down to pick them up while stuttering, apologies to the person she had

just crashed into. "maa, maa It's all right, here let me help you" said a low voice, as the owner of it crouched down to help collect her things. Kaoru blushed furiously as she looked up to see the person she had just accosted. He was

gorgeous. He had bright red hair and mesmerizing dark violet eyes. Kaoru simply stayed there staring at him like a moron, until he held out her books for her to take, "here you are" he said, effectively snapping her out of her daze.

" Umm, th-thank you" Kaoru managed to stutter out.

"No problem, you aren't lost by any chance are you?" The guy asked kindly

"Um, yeah, I actually… " Kaoru blushed looking at her feet, " I was looking for Sadojima-Sensei's math class."

"It's just down the hall to your left" Mr. embodiment of all things sexy said, pointing her in the right direction and smiling, with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

"Umm, thank you" Kaoru said, fleeing as fast as she could, knowing that if her face got any hotter, her hair was liable to catch fire.

"Well that was embarrassing" Kaoru whispered to herself.

--

Alrighty then, now that that's done i can finally go to sleep after staying up all night watching Disney movies ( I can officially recite all of the lion King by heart). Please read and REVIEW. Any advice or constructive critism is always appreciated.

P.S If some of this dosent make sense, well... I havent slept in almost 37 hours.


	4. Sleepover Madness: A lesson in Crazy

A/N: Thank you very much to those who reviewed. Onhiro, to answer your question, the description is referring to all 3 girls. There is a different thing for each of them. Also, the story switches between all of their points of view.

Also, I'm sooooo sorry it has taken me this long to update, I got really distracted by exams and such... plus i'm completely a.d.d, but anyways, to warn you, nothing eventful happens in this chapter it is just sort of leading up to chapters to come, also I wanted to post something and the full thing was waaaayyy to long so I just cut it here and made that a seperate chapter. ANYWAYS

here goes...

Ch. 4

SLEEP OVER MADNESS: A LESSON IN DERANGEMENT

After school, Nisa and Misao walked to the store together and bought a tub of cappuccino ice cream, which happened to be Misao's _other _obsession. Now if only she could some how find a way of combining the two, _then _they could

have some fun.

"Naughty thoughts Misao " She scolded herself, briefly pausing in their trek back to Nisa's house so she could shake the tempting images out of her head.

" Aoshi and whips again?" Nisa inquired mildly, with out stopping or looking back at her friend.

" Nope," Misao corrected " Aoshi and ice cream." At this, Nisa did stop. She turned around and stared at her friend with a dead-pan expression, trying to decide whether to be appalled or amused . After opening her mouth to make

further inquest, she realized that she _really _didn't need to know more, and so she instead shut her mouth and continued on, walking a little faster than she had been, attempting to put some space between herself and the kinky

little weasel.

--

"All I'm saying is that, I think your grandfather might have been a negative influence on your quondam innocent mind." Nisa said as she and Misao walked through the front door five minutes later.

"And you think I don't know this?" Misao walked into the kitchen and stuck the ice cream into the freezer. " Hey is your dad home?" Asked Misao, wondering whether or not she needed to keep her uncouthness in check.

" No, he went to that parent teacher interview thingy tonight, remember?"

Misao's brow scrunched in confusion, and then unfurled as her face lit with dawning comprehension. " Oh yeah. Jiya doesn't even bother going to those things anymore. They always say the same things, 'Misao is a very bright child,

if only she would pay attention during the lessons and cause fewer distractions to the class'…. blah, blah and so forth" Misao made a face " I mean really, what is there to pay attention to? Kamatari prattling about how pretty he is?

Yumi -sensei's cleavage? Saitoh's… well, in all actuality I wouldn't dare not pay attention in his class, he scares the shit out of me.

"Really? I like Saitoh- sensei." Said Nisa, ignoring the startled look Misao sent her way. "Even though the remarks he makes can be rather … caustic, they're are actually quite funny… when they aren't directed at you."

"Whatever, the point is, my attention is much better applied toward writing 'Shinomori Misao' in my note book over and over again."

Nisa laughed. "That's actually what you do during class, isn't it?".

Misao stuck her tongue out at Nisa, who would have reached over and grabbed it, had the phone not rang at that exact moment.

"Moshi moshi" Nisa answered. A pained sounding moan was her reply.

"My life is over" Soujirou's voice groaned on from the other end.

"Wait, hold on a second Sou-chan I've gotta put you on speaker phone." Nisa quickly pushed the speaker button and Misao wandered over to listen. "So why is your life over?" Nisa casually inquired

" Parent interviews" Soujiro groaned, this was followed by a series of thudding noises that may or may not have been Soujiro banging his head against a wall.

"Oh? Your teachers brought up your classroom misconduct did they? Despite the fact you already explained that the hamster was like that when you found him..."

The thudding came to a momentary standstill, "No, well yes, but I had been expecting that. No, what has happened is catastrophically worse than that. Are you ready for it?" There was a pause and then four more consecutive 'thuds' before he continued, "at the end of the interview with Yumi- sensei, she gave my dad her _number_!"

Nisa and Misao's jaws dropped. "WHAT?" They shrieked in unison

"I _know!_ They flirted through the entire thing, and at the end she said, and I quote "If _you_ need some private tutoring, give me a call , and I can teach you lesson.'"

At this, Misao seemed to choke on thin air, and then began making violent retching noises as she pictured the interaction between Shishio-san and Yumi-sensei.

"Well look on the bright side" Nisa, always being one to try and find a silver lining, consoled, " If she becomes your step mom, maybe she'll tuck you in at night."

At this, Misao cracked up. And Soujirou's angered voice shouted into the phone " THIS ISNT FUNNY YOU GUYS, DON'T YOU SEE THAT I'M DOOMED TO SUFER A LONG, DRAWN OUT AND PAINFULL EXSISTENCE FOR THE REST OF MY

NATURAL LIFE". Misao and Nisa straightened their faces and began consoling their friend while, every few minutes, looking at each other and grinning. They ended the conversation a half hour later after final attempts to assuage

Soujirou's dejected mood, just as Kenshin, Aoshi and Sanosuke walked through the door, sweaty and tired after Kendo practice.

--

The doorbell rang at six, and Nisa and Misao swung the door open to reveal a slightly nervous looking Kaoru with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Misao immediately grabbed the poor girl by the arm and dragged her into the foyer while exclaiming "Kaoru, your here!.

"Perceptive one, isn't she?" a rumbling voice came from behind Misao. Kaoru looked up and paled slightly. The owner of the voice happened to be a mountain. Kaoru found herself looking up at the largest man she had ever seen. He

was more than six foot five and, even under his business suit, it was evident that his biceps were roughly the size of her head. He had a young face, though slightly tired looking eyes, that held an intimidating expression. Whether

said expression was intentional, or he simply had a perpetual choleric disposition, she couldn't be sure. Either way, at the moment, she felt very small.

Nisa looked between her father, who was now smirking, and Kaoru, who had a frightened look on her face, as if scared that Hiko might try and eat her.

"Kaoru, this is my dad, Hiko Seijuro. Tou-san this is my friend Kaoru, she's new at school."

Hiko attempted to suppress his inner amusement. Peoples reactions to meeting him the first time always proved oh so entertaining. Although he _could_ have quit being a bastard right then and made an attempt at being hospitable,

he decided it was better to prolong the fun, after all it never lasted long. The terrified politeness and meek countenance wore off eventually, much to quickly in his opinion, and the next thing you know you come home and their

running amok in your house, all form of guest etiquette lying abandoned on the floor, take Makimachi Itachi and the tori-atama for example So, of course, he was going to encourage the petrification while it was still there.

"It's very nice to meet you Hiko-san" Kaoru tried.

Hiko merely made a disgruntled sort of huffing noise and inclined his head ever so slightly, before turning and walking out of the room.

"don't worry" assured Misao, "he's like that to everyone. Our fear is his entertainment."

"shall we bring out the ice cream?" inquired Nisa

"ooooohh, come on Kaoru!" Misao squealed and then made a beeline for the Kitchen. The two girls followed. Nisa with a faint air of exasperation, and Kaoru with trepidation.

--

Five minutes later found the girls seated around Nisa's Kitchen island, each with a large bowl of ice cream in front of them. After taking a large spoonful, Misao turned to Kaoru with a conspiratorial shine in her eye. " So, do we ever have news for you."

Kaoru looked up from her ice cream at misao, then Nisa, then focused her gaze back on misao. "what is is?"

Barley able to contain her maniacal grin, Misao leaned in and stage whispered, " Yumi-sensei asked Soujiros dad out!"

Kaoru's eyes widened "oh no, poor soujiro-san! I cant imagine having her as a step mom"

"well, serves the little bastard right for enjoying all those pats on the back a little too much." said Misao

" Sojirou-san's mother passed away right?" asked Kaoru

"yep" confirmed Nisa " and he was abused by his real father and step mother. Shishio-san adopted sou-chan when he was about six."

It was silent in the kitchen for a few minutes before Misao broke it with an exclamation of "more ice cream!"

" So Kaoru-san," Nisa said, as Misao dished them each another huge serving of ice cream " how did the rest of the day work out? Were you able to find all your classes"

At this, for reasons unknown to both Nisa and Misao, Kaoru went bright red.

" well, I had a bit of trouble finding my math class but there was a ... guy who helped me out"

Nisa and Misao exchanged glances before Misao inquired

" and how exactly did this ... guy help you out?"

"I sort of knocked into him in the hallway and he helped me pick my books up and then pointed me to my next class" Once again, she went red.

"I see..." said Nisa slowly " and this ... guy, wasn't by any chance extremely good looking was he?"

"oh my god" Kaoru slumped down over the kitchen counter as if she had deflated " he was probably the hottest guy I have ever seen, and I made a complete fool of myself in front of him, stuttering and then practically sprinting away from him."

" A completely natural reaction" consoled Misao, patting Kaoru's shoulder. " so what did he look like? Was he tall, brooding and muscular? Did he have blue eyes that pierced your soul when he looked at you, as well as an ass that you just want to- ITAI" Misao exclaimed rubbing her head where Nisa had just smacked her

"Misao! Get a hold of yourself!" Nisa scolded.

" Actually," Kaoru continued giving misao a slightly confused look, internally wondering why the petite girl was drooling, " he was kind of short, maybe a few inches taller than me, and had bright red-" Kaoru stopped abruptly. She

might have been going crazy, but she was sure she just saw the very topic of discussion walk passed the kitchen entrance. She blinked several times unsure whether what she was seeing was actually there or not. But, It appeared

that this was no hallucination, as the guy stopped, backed tracked, and walked into the kitchen.

" Your the girl from the hall before" stated Kenshin, smiling brightly. "So, did you managed to find the class okay?"

Kaoru, once again, turned bright red and, voice rendered useless, nodded dumbly.

Kenshin's smile morphed into something that could be likened to a small smirk "I'm glad to hear it, are you... Nisa why is your mouth open?" Kenshin had briefly looked over Kaoru's shoulder, to find his sister looking like someone

had just pantsed her and she still couldn't quite believe it. He then looked at Misao who looked equally dumbstruck. Nisa slowly closed her mouth and took a moment to regain her composer before saying, with a unsuccessfully

concealed grin:

" Kaoru-san, it seems you've met my brother Kenshin"

--

Alrighty then, so there it is. What will happen next, Who knows?

Please remember to REVIEW, reviews are what motivate me to update!

Thoughts, suggestions, critisms, ALL ARE WELCOME.

Till next time then...


	5. A Lesson in Hide and Go seek

Hello There, long time no post. Hehe sorry about the long wait. Anyways, Thank you very much to those who reviewed, heres the new chapter, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5

Sleepover Madness: A Lesson In Hide and Go Seek.

--

10:30 that evening found the three girls laying on Nisa's bedroom carpet feeling slightly tired and faintly sickened from the amount of ice cream that had been consumed.

"Misao, can I throw up on you?" asked Nisa

"I'd prefer if you didn't actually."

"Oh. What about you then Kaoru?"

"... Maybe later"

There were several more beats of silence, before Misao, without warning, jumped to her feat with incredible speed for some one who had, nearly single-handedly, eaten 2 liters of ice cream.

"alright girls, buck up! It's time for an activity. I suggest a good, old fashioned game of hide and go seek!"

Nisa looked at her friend incredulously. "you want to play hide and go seek?"

"sure, why not? I'll be it. You have one hundred seconds to hide. GO!" With that, Misao turned abruptly, covering her eyes, and began counting.

--

Kaoru turned another corner and jogged down the hallway in desperate search of a place to hide. Somewhere in the house she could faintly hear Misao reaching the end of her count down. Nisa had already somehow managed to stuff herself into the dryer, so that spot was out, 'not that I would be able to fit in there anyways'. Kaoru reached the end of the hall and pulled open the first door she found, flinging herself into the room just as Misao announced at the top of her voice-

"READY OR NOT, I'M COMING TO GET YOU MUAHAHAAHHA"

Kaoru found herself in a large bathroom. Walking around, she innocently peeked through a few drawers. She picked up a bottle of shampoo, unscrewed the cap and inhaled deeply. ' I wonder if this is the shampoo he uses', Kaoru thought to herself. She put the bottle down just as she heard the door handle start to turn. Quickly, Kaoru jumped into the shower, hiding behind the shower curtain before Misao could find her. Kaoru heard the door shut, and braced herself in case the genki girl decided to pounce on the her.

--

Misao tiptoed through the laundry room and stopped in front of the dryer. She silently counted to three, her hand poised on the dryer door and then ...

"BOOOO" Misao wrenched the door open, effectively scaring the living shit out of Nisa , who screamed and hit her head on the top of the dryer.

" Dear _God _Misao, you scared me half to death! What the Hell is wrong with you?!" Nisa exclaimed clutching the top of her head where she was sure there would be a noticeable lump tomorrow.

Misao collapsed to the floor, cackling and gripping her sides.

"How did you find me so quickly?" Nisa pouted, struggling to hoist her self out of the machine.

Misao, still giggling, sat up wiping tears from her eyes. " you _always _hide in the dryer" she said. " And frankly I think it's time it ended. No normal 17 year old girl should be able to contort herself enough to get in there.

Nisa laughed, while still attempting to wriggle her way out " what can I say? We dancers are flexible, and believe you me, getting in is the easy part. Would you mind giving me a hand here" Nisa let out a frustrated huff. Obligingly, Misao got up, grabbed her friend by the armpits, and with one tremendous tug yanked her from the dryer, both girls collapsing on top of each other in a heap on the laundry room floor.

" Alrighty then" said Misao, untangling herself from her friends limbs and hopping onto her feet, "now we've just gotta find Kaoru".

--

When the shower curtain wasn't immediately ripped back by a crazed Misao flinging her self at Kaoru like a hyena on a wildebeest, Kaoru relaxed marginally. However, when she didn't hear the sound of the door opening for Misao to exit either, Kaoru peeled back the shower curtain slightly so she could see what the weasel girl was up too.

Her breathing stopped, as did her heart. Instead of seeing the dark haired, genki girl she'd expected, her eyes caught a shock of bright red hair, a sharp, striking profile and a wiry, muscled physique, before she quickly snapped her head back, letting the curtain fall back into place.

'Oh My God' ,Kaoru thought in a panic. 'What the hell is he doing? Oh SHIT I'm stuck in here, and is he seriously undressing? Maybe I should take another peak to confirm? No. Bad Kaoru, you've only known her for a day, and Misao is already having a bad influence on you. CRAP what do I do?' Kaoru's thoughts raced as her heart beat sped up. Just then, a hand with long, slender fingers appeared through the the shower curtain, inches way from her right knee. Kaoru squealed lightly and jumped back against the opposite shower wall. Fortunately, the sound was covered by the whoosh of water as the long fingers turned the tap and water came spraying down from the shower head, effectively soaking Kaoru, and furthering her panic to ulcer worthy proportions. 'How are you gonna get yourself out of this one Kamiya?'

When Kenshin was fully undressed, he pulled back the shower curtain, ready to take a long relaxing shower after a hard practice that afternoon. He was instead greeted by a rather startling scene. A girl. In his shower. Soaking, wide eyed, and blushing furiously enough to make steam rise into the air, or was that just the hot water from the shower?

"Umm... hello" Kenshin greeted slowly, his own cheeks turning equally red. The initial shock having somewhat worn off, he was now very aware of two things: One, he was absolutely but naked. Two, her eyes had most definitely wandered from his own.

Not wanting to make any sudden movements around her, he slowly reached for a towel and wrapped it securely around his waste. "Hey," he said, catching her attention. "My eyes are up here" He gestured to his face, a small grin forming on his mouth despite his own mortification.

Kaoru's extreme embarrassment, coupled with a severe lack of air (the ability to breath having not yet returned to her) had turned her face from deep red to an interesting, and slightly concerning, shade of purple.

"umm.." Kaoru stammered "heh heh, I was just , um, admiring your lovely shower curtain." She quickly focused her gaze on the curtain, which was blue with bright yellow duckys printed on it ( for the record, out of the three residents of this house, Nisa had not been one of the ones to choose that particular curtain).

" Alright then", said Kenshin slowly, starting to back away from her, reaching behind himself to fumble with the door knob. "I'll just leave you to it then, shall I ?" And with that, he was out the door, not even bothering to pick up his clothes, but still taking it upon himself to let his eyes sweep over her body one more time, taking in the soaked T shirt that clung tightly to her skin.

As soon as she heard the door close behind her, Kaoru broke the staring contest she was having with one of the ducks, and slid down the tiled wall to slump into the bath tub, water still pouring over her.

"wow" she breathed, before she put she her head in her hands and started giggling uncontrollably.

--

Misao and Nisa searched the rest of the basement and the main floor for Kaoru with no luck. As they headed upstairs, they paused on the top step.

"Okay," whispered Misao, " here's the plan. You check the closet I'll check the bathroom at the end of the hall, okay?"

"Sounds good. Ready? Go Go Go Go Go " with that to spur them into action, the girls began to army crawl across Nisa's hallway floor. When they reached Kenshin's room they paused outside his open bedroom door, when they heard the boys talking.

" What up Ken- boy?" Sanosuke asked, before swearing loudly as Aoshi cut his head off in the game they were currently playing. "Fuck You Shinomori!" He chucked his controller angrily across the room. "Every Fuckin' time man." Aoshi just smirked. Sanosuke turned his attention back to Kenshin while flipping Aoshi off. "That was a quick shower."

" Umm, well..." Kenshin was blushing. " I went to get in the shower, and I didn't realize there was already somebody else in the bathroom, and I, ah, sort of walked in on Nisa's friend Kaoru in the shower." Outside the door Nisa and Misao's eyes popped out of their heads.

"Holy fuck man, you saw her naked?" was Sanosuke's immediate question back inside Kenshin's room.

" No" Kenshin shook his head, " but she saw me naked." Not needing to hear anymore, both Nisa and Misao got up from their covert positions and, abandoning all pretense of stealth, ran to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

The girls opened the bathroom door to find Kaoru, sitting in the bathtub, soaking wet and laughing her head off.

"Oh kami- sama" Misao whispered surveying the disturbing scene before her, "It was to horrific for her to be able to cope with. She's gone bat shit insane!"

Nisa clucked her tongue sympathetically and walked over, sat down in the tub with Kaoru and layed Kaoru's head on her shoulder "It's okay" she consoled, rubbing her shoulder with one arm, as Misao turned off the water " it's gonna be just fine."

After several minutes, when Kaoru hysterical chuckles had subsided into the occasional giggle or hiccup, she looked up at Nisa with wide eyes.

" I just saw your brother naked."

All three of them looked at each other with serious expressions, before simutaneously bursting out laughing and collapsing to the bathroom floor cackling until they could no longer breath.

--

Hiko looked up at his office ceiling from where he could hear roaring laughter coming from both the boys and girls upstairs. He sighed in annoyance.

"why the hell did I have kids again?"

--

MUAHAHAAHHA... Alright there it is, another chapter inspired by my own pure, unadulterated lunacy. Okay then, if you would be so kind please REVIEW, and tell me what you think.


	6. A Lesson in Falling Properly

Disclaimer : I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Chapter 6

Sleepover Madness: A Lesson in Falling Properly

--

Contrary to what her friends would have you believe, Misao wasn't _actually_ the maniac stalker chick they made her out to be. Okay, so maybe she had staked out a locker or two, and perhaps could be known to take a quick sniff of her obsession's hair when he wasn't paying attention, but she was a girl in love, could anything less really be expected of her? In her opinion the perturbed looks Nisa often sent her way, when she was caught staring at the obsession's ass a moment too long, were completely unjustified.

"Misao!"

Startled, Misao tore her gaze from the back of Aoshi's lovely head and turned to look at Nisa who was giving her the afro mentioned look, mingled with faint exasperation. She changed her gaze to Kaoru who, not for the first time that night, looked mildly bemused.

" Did you say something?"

Nisa sighed. It was quarter past midnight and, after they had calmed down and got Kaoru dried off, she and Kaoru had gone to fetch some more snacks. They had returned to the room to find that Misao had vacated it. A short search found Misao in Kenshin's room watching the boys playing video games or, more accurately, just watching Aoshi.

Nisa walked into the room as Kaoru quickly carried on down the hall to Nisa's room, not wanting to see anymore of Kenshin than she already had that night.

"I said", Nisa grabbed Misao by the wrist, fully prepared to use force if necessary. "we've got the snacks" Nisa rolled her eyes as Kenshin smiled at her and shook his head. Sano chuckled and threw a wink in Nisa's direction

"Go stuff your face weasel, Kami knows you need to put some curves onto that twelve- year- old- boys body you've got"

"oh, yeah" Misao mumbled as she was dragged out of the room by her friend.

They had almost made it out the door when Misao came to a sudden halt. Nisa cringed, dreading the inevitable. Slowly, Misao rounded on Sano. There was a moment's pause, in which Sano's grin slipped from his face, and then...

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU STUPID ROOSTER HEAD?" Misao pounced on Sano, alternately smacking him upside the head and trying to strangle the life out of him, all the while yelling at the top of her lungs.

"You take that back you BIG JERK!." Smack

"I DO NOT HAVE A LITTLE BOY'S BODY!" Strangle

" I'M SORRY!" yelled Sano, trying to fend off the rabid weasel " I didn't mean it, FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI HAVE MERCY!"

Aoshi and Kenshin quickly moved out of the way as Misao managed to tackle him to the ground, and proceeded to sit on his chest and whack him repeatedly on the head.

" Misao, restrain yourself!" Nisa jumped into the fray, by now wrestling Misao away from brawls was something that she was quite accustomed to . Nisa grabbed Misao under the arm pits and hauled her backwards out of her brother's room and down the hall into her own, Misao yelling for rooster blood all the while.

--

Once in the safety of her own quarters Nisa let Misao drop onto the floor in a crumpled heap.

Misao sat up crossed legged on the floor, folded her arms across her chest, and ground her teeth together. Nisa and Kaoru watched her, wary of her next move.

" I hate that rooster" Misa snarled .

"He's the worst" Nisa agreed in her usual placatory fashion.

" I'll rip his feathers out one by one" Misao continued, a murderous gleam coming to her eye.

" He doesn't actually have feathers," Nisa reminded her.

Misa closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. " You said you had food?"

Cautiously, Kaoru nudged a package of mochi in Misao's direction. Slowly, Misao reached out and grabbed one, brought it to her mouth and took a rather savage bite, chewed ferociously, swallowed and looked up, glaring at the two girls in front of her.

" So..." Nisa attempted starting a conversation in a light and happy tone, " what did you do after school today Kaoru?"

" Oh, ummm," Kaoru startled at being addressed, " well, I went home and did that assignment that Yumi sensei gave us and then I did a few Kendo exercises with my brother and then I came here."

" You do Kendo?" Nisa asked, surprized.

" Only what my dad taught me , he owned his own dojo you know, so I'm trying to pass it on to Yahiko."

" That's cool , Kenshin is like the Kendo champion of his club, so now you and my brother have something to talk about." She said happily "That is of course if you can ever look at him again."

Kaoru turned red and did her best to divert the conversation from herself " how 'bout you guys, what did you do after school?"

" We just bought food and came here," said Misao, apparently ready to rejoin civilized conversation now that she had calmed down from her little episode. "But yesterday we went shopping!" She exclaimed.

"oh yeah," said Nisa " weasel show her the dress you got."

Misao snorted and went over to her bag and pulled out the leopard print dress.

" To fully appreciate this, you must see it in action" Misao explained as she made her way over to Nisa's bathroom to try in on.

A few minutes later, she emerged with her hands flung in the air and an exclamation of " Ta-da" Nisa just laughed shaking her head, Kaoru stared at Misao with wide eyes,

" what could you possibly need a dress like that for?"

" For Aoshi-sama's viewing pleasure of course" said Misao

" Aoshi-_ sama" _Nisa asked incredulously, that was one she had never heard before.

Misoa blushed " shut up"

Kaoru looked mildly confused , " so... you like Aoshi -san?"

" I dont _like_ him, I _love_ him, I am devoted to him. It is him who I will marry, and his babies who I will have." Misao said with certainty and a nod.

" Oh, I didn't know you guys were together" Kaoru still looked

vaguely perturbed " umm, you guys sure don't talk much"

'tell me about it' Misao grumbled to herself ' If I had a yen for every word he's ever said to me I wouldn't have _nearly_ enough to feed my sugar addiction " well you see," Misa struggled to explain to Kaoru what she often had difficulty defining herself, " It's not a relationship per say, I'd call it more... admiring him from afar...."

" and I'd call it grounds for a restraining order" Nisa put in. Misao stuck her tongue out in Nisa's direction.

" well what about you Nisa- san, who would you wear the dress for ?" Kaoru asked, grinning.

"Yes Nisa", said Misao innocently inquired " who would you wear this dress for?"

" I wouldn't be caught dead in that dress."

"Now I don't think that's entirely truthful Himura- san" Misao said shaking her head " I think there's a certain tori atama down the hall who you wouldn't mind modeling this for."

"shut up Misao" was all Nisa had to say to defend herself as Misao started to unzip the dress with over exaggerated slowness while she continued, in a rather poor impersonation of Nisa " oh Sanosuke, you're so dreamy"

"I do not talk like that" Nisa said flatly. Misao was now swinging the dress above her head, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. That is of course until she accidentally let go of the garment and it went flying out Nisa's open bedroom window.

All three girls watched the dress's flight out the window. There was a moment of silence.

"well, there's karma for you" said Nisa " you have to go get that you know."

No sympathy whatsoever.

" heh heh heh" Misao looked at Nisa, who was starring back at her with one eyebrow raised, and at Kaoru who was trying to conceal a giggle behind he hand. " Alrighty then, I'll just go get that shall I ?" Misao hoisted herself up onto Nisa's desk, scattering all of her papers in the process and , ignoring Nisa's angered yell, crawled out the window on to the roof of the house.

She jumped up and began searching around for the dress in the dark.

" You know your on my roof in your under wear right?," she heard Nisa call from inside the house.

"Yes, I was aware thank you" Misao called back, shivering slightly as she did so.

" And you are aware that my next door neighbor is just a poor old lady, and that her sitting room window is right across from you? What did she do to deserve that kind of a shock?"

" Didn't she run over your cat when you were like six" Misao asked, now on her hands and knees feeling around for the dress.

" ... Carry on then" Nisa called to her, deciding that the old lady deserved what was coming to her.

Misao crawled around on the dark roof for a few more minutes before she deduced that the dress what no where to be found.

"shit, I think it went over the roof, it's probably in the yard" she yelled back to the other girls as she peered over the side.

"ok, we'll go down and get it then, just get away from the edge!" Nisa called back to her, her inner worry wort evidently kicking in.

" alright, alright cool it mom" Misao hopped back up onto her feet with the intention of going back inside. Instead, she lost her balance, stumbling backwards. She squealed and flailed her arms around trying desperately to regain her balance, but her attempts were for not.

'Karma indeed' was her last thought as she went tumbling over the side of the roof.

-- ------------

Where Misao would have expected to collide with the hard, concrete surface of Nisa's driveway, she instead found herself gripped by something strong, warm and deliciously masculine smelling. ' Am I dead?' she wondered to herself. She took two fingers and pinched her arm hard. She grunted in pain,

'Ow, okay _no, _because that fucking hurt. Am I in somebody's arms? Did someone catch me? On fuck i'm in my panties. Oh my god, is this Nisa's dad? Did Nisa's dad catch me, because if he did I'm never fucking living this down.

Slowly Misao opened her eyes, terrified to confirm her suspicion. She blinked, looking up at the man who's arms she was currently occupying. It was Aoshi.

'fuuuuuuuuuuuck'.

She braved another look at him, Aoshi looked mildly shocked to find Misao so suddenly in his arms, which for Aoshi probably meant that she had just given him a small heart attack.

"heh heh heh" Misa laughed nervously, scrambling to put her feet on solid ground. Aoshi set her down and just stared at her. "Aoshi-kun" Misao found her voice came out disgustingly high pitched. " what a pleasant surprise" she tried bringing her voice down a few octaves. No such luck.

" I wouldn't go as far as to say pleasant" he responded. Misao blushed, she could only make out the outline of his face in the dark, but she imagined one of his eyebrows to be slightly raised and his lips to be turned down slightly in annoyance.

"Ummm right, yeah sorry bout that.... um thanks for catching me?" She suddenly remembered she was in her underwear, and wrapped her arms around her chest.

"No problem" he said. His voice was deep and smooth and it sent shivers up Misao's spine. " May I ask why it is you are dropping from the sky at such a late hour?" Misao just stared at him, concentrating on the low rumble of his voice and unable to register that he had acctually just asked her a question. Aoshi was staring at her expectantly. "Oh!" Misao shook herself from her daze, " I was just, ahh, looking for something , I seem to have, um, dropped it around here somewhere."

"You mean this?"

To further Misao's embarrassment, Aoshi held up the leopard print dress and let it dangle in front of her from one of his fingers. She could feel his eyes on her and was now extremely aware that he was looking at her while she was _in her panties_. What was he thinking?It was impossible to tell.

"Oh yeah, he he, where'd you find that?"

" It dropped on my head" Aoshi said flatly.

"Well, I'll just take that and be on my way then." Misao grabbed the dress and started to make a quick escape towards the front door. She was almost around the side of the house when she turned back. "Hey," she called. He turned his head slightly to survey her. " What are you doing out here?" He looked away from her again and back up at the sky.

"I'm watching the stars" he said simply. Misao continued to watch him, eyebrows raised. "...Okay then..... goodnight Aoshi" She turned again heading for the front door not expecting a response.

"Good night Misao."

She was already around the side of the house when she heard it, but she could have sworn.

--

Luckily all the other occupants of the house had headed off to bed,so no one saw a mildly dazed Misao walk through the house and up the stairs in nothing but her underwear.

When she reached Nisa room, she shut the door behind her, threw her dress onto the bed and turned to look at Nisa and Kaoru who were staring at her wide- eyed.

" Not a single fucking word" she warned.

--

After that, they decided that they'd probably had quite enough excitement for one night and so they all changes into their pajamas crawled in to bed; Kaoru on a matress on the floor and Nisa and Misao in Nisa's bed. They all lay there silently for sometime, before Nisa flicked off her lamp and bid them good night.

"Night Kaoru"

"Good night Nisa"

"Good night Misao, pleasant dreams of whips and feathers."

Nisa was promptly hit over the head with a pillow.

--

Chapter end! Wow, that only took forever. I promise a faster update for the next chapter.

Till next time. Ja matta ne

--


	7. A Lesson in the Right place and time

**CHAPTER 7**

Sleepover Madness: A Lesson in the Right Place at the Right Time

Disclaimer: only in my dreams

**Attention**: some of this chapter and a few of the chapters to come will be a lot darker than previous ones. The story needed a bit of a serious side.

Not much of one though. ANYWAYS...

--

Nisa's alarm clock went off at five thirty Saturday morning. Waking with a jolt, she quickly turned it off before it could wake Misao and Kaoru. Trying to get up, Nisa attempted to stealthily maneuver herself out from under Misao, who had draped her legs over Nisa and was pinning her down rather soundly. When that didn't work, Nisa resorted to pinching Misao's leg. Hard. At this, the legs immediately retracted, like a scalded cat.

After navigating herself away from Misao and then nearly tripping over Kaoru, Nisa quickly showered, pinned her hair up in a tight bun and put on her dance clothes, which were tight black spandex shorts and a purple tank top. Then she grabbed her dance bag and headed to the kitchen.

--

One of the best things about ballet was definitely the seven o'clock in the morning on the weekend rehearsals. Snort. And, one of the best things about being short (even shorter than Kenshin for kami's sake!), was not being able to reach the coffee. Double snort.

Nisa stood on a stool in front of the kitchen counter trying her darnedest to reach the coffee that some jackass, her father most likely, had put on the top shelf. So focused was she on her quest for caffeine, she didn't hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late.

"Now that's just sad" Sano said, shaking his head, while thinking quite the opposite as his gaze lingered on her ass in those booty shorts.

Startled at his voice behind her, Nisa squealed loudly and jumped into the air, stumbling back off the stool ( much the same way as Misao had stumbled off her roof the night before). Instead of hitting the kitchen floor however, she collided with a firm chest, and Sano's arms wrapped around her and hoisted her up, turned her around and sat her on the counter top.

Nisa watched as Sano chuckled at her expense, his usual lopsided grin forming on his lips, and was rather aware of their proximity, as he stood between her knees.

"Good morning" Nisa said, for lack of anything better. He watched her in amusment as she gulped.

"Something I can help you with ducky-chan?"

Nisa's eyes widened, "ah", she gestured vaguely at the high shelves, "I can't reach the coffee." Sano looked up at the coffee and then back at her. Without breaking eye contact he reached up, on hand resting on her leg as he did so, and grabbed the coffee.

" Thanks" Nisa said when he handed it to her. She accepted her beloved coffee canister and gave it an affectionate pat, just glad to have it safely in her arms.

Uncomfortable under Sanosuke's close scrutiny, Nisa slid around him and hopped off the counter to start making the coffee. She could still feel his eyes on her.

"Why up so early?" Sano asked, wondering where she was going.

" I have dance at seven" She said, pouring the water into the coffee maker. Sano seemed to recall that she was never there Saturday mornings. "What about you?" Nisa asked.

" Oh, I came to get a drink of water" he explained, "and I had to piss." he finished suavely.

Nisa rolled her eyes " charming". She started measuring out coffee beans, trying her hardest to ignore the feeling it gave her when Sano watched her like that.

"Why do you hate me?" Sano asked abruptly. Nisa turned sharply and surveyed Sano's face. He was frowning slightly and looking at her questioningly.

"What?" Nisa asked with disbelief, " I do not hate you, where in Kami's name did you get that impression?" Sano seemed to think about this for a moment,

"Whenever I try to start a conversation with you, you always answer with really, I dunno, brusque, like, two word answers, I just thought you found me really fucking annoying or something."

Nisa starred in horror. Well that sure made her sound like a bitch. She didn't shoot him down, did she? "No, no, no," she waved her hands in front of her, wanting to quickly dissuade his assumption. "I don't hate you at all! I actually think you're very, um..." she trailed off, bitting her tongue.

Sano's smirk was back. Slowly he started towards her again. "You think I'm what?"

Nisa looked him over trying to think of something to say that wouldn't humiliate her,

" I think you're very...sturdy" was what she managed to come up with. In her mind, she walked up to the edge of a precipice and threw herself off it.

Sano stopped about three feet from her and gave her a strange look, before continuing. "You think I'm what?" he asked, still, it would appear, amused at her expense.

"I ... don't know" She hoped this conversation would end soon ,so she could slam her head in the oven door in peace. Sano came to a stop right in front of her and put one arm on either side of her, pinning her to the kitchen counter. Nisa stared resolutely at his chest.

"So what you're saying" Sano reiterated slowly " is that you don't hate me, and you find me sturdy. And thats why you don't talk to me?" His lopsided grin seemed to have become mocking.

'Oh Kami, he's standing very close to me' Nisa thought, frantically searching for something to say that would make her seem less stupid. 'Wow I'm making myself seem stupid in comparison to Sano, what an accomplishment.'

This was very confusing for Nisa. Stuttering and blushing was more of Misao's thing, when Aoshi looked at her. Nisa was usually more adept at keeping her cool. Too cool apparently, seeing as how Sano had thought she hated him, but she digressed. What had his question been again? Oh yeah! " It's very hard to ... think around you, which makes forming coherent sentences even more of a challenge." She looked up, Sano was still watching her, and still grinning. Gods he was hot. Nisa was brought out of her thoughts when Sano moved his hand and cupped it around her neck. Bringing her forwards, he lent down and pressed his lips to hers.

It only lasted for a moment before he lent back to look at her. Nisa was to stunned to move. Then, he was moving towards her again, kissing her more insistently this time and after a moment, Nisa responded, moving her lips against his. Sano's other hand moved to press against the small of her back , holding her against his body. Eventually, they needed to pause for air, and after taking a few heavy breaths, Sano lifted her up onto the counter again. Nisa lent forward, draping her arms around his shoulders as she initiated the kiss this time. Sano deepened it and grabbed her hips, sliding her towards him. Nisa made a sound in the back of her throat somewhere between a sigh and a squeal, and Sano chuckled lightly, kissing her hair before going back to her mouth.

Nisa couldn't be sure how much time had passed when a beeping noise went off somewhere in the kitchen, startling them both away from each other. Sano watched Nisa quietly while she looked around for the source of the noise.

"Coffee's ready." She said indicating to the coffee maker that had startled them moments ago.

"Right" said Sano, clearing his throat " well, don't let me stop you"

Nisa quickly fixed herself a cup of coffee and began drinking it in large gulps, quickly downing a large cup in a manner of seconds.

Sano stared at her incredulously. "Wow, you really like coffee"

"I _really_ like coffee" Nisa agreed. She looked at the clock, which showed 6:30. "Um, I have to go wake Keshin up, so he can drive me to dance, so I'll just..." Nisa began turning away to head up stairs.

"Wait" said Sano " there no point in waking Ken when I'm already up. I'll drive you." Nisa considered this. Would it be strange for Sano to drive her to dance? She wasn't exactly used to spending one on one time with him. But, then again, she did always feel guilty for getting Kenshin up early every Saturday. "Okay, I guess if you don't mind."

"Sure," Sano shrugged "C'mon kid."

Nisa wrinkled her nose at the name, but stooped to pick up her bag and followed Sano out the door

--

Kaoru woke up that morning to find Nisa's room empty. She sat up, slightly nervous, wondering where every one had gone. She got up and was going to go downstairs to find somebody when an unnaturally happy Misao came bursting through the door.

"Good morning Koaru!" she exclaimed when she saw that she was awake.

" Morning" said Kaoru with slightly less enthusiasm " um, where's Nisa?"

"Nisa's at dance" misao explained, as she skipped around the room grabbing her clothes that she had strewn across the floor( Nisa often remarked it wasn't bad enough that misao let her room get to the appalling state it was in, but she had to dragged Nisa's room down with it), and I'm gonna take a shower. If you go down into the kitchen breakfast will probably be made, and Kenshin and Aoshi- sama are down there, we don't know were the tori-atama went, he disappeared earlier this morning. Anyways, see you in a bit!" and with that Misao disappeared into Nisa's bathroom.

Kaoru just stood there for a few minutes and listened to the shower start and the water run, before she headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

She poked her head through the doorway first and saw Kenshin in front of the stove stirring something. Aoshi and Hiko were both sitting at the island reading the paper, Aoshi had a cup of tea. Kaoru couldn't help but laugh slightly at the sight, which of course alerted the occupants of the kitchen to her presence.

Kenshin looked up at her and smiled " Ohayoo Kaoru-san , Miso soup?

Kaoru blushed darkly but stepped into the kitchen anyway" yes pleas" she said quietly and perched herself on the seat across from Aoshi.

"I suppose Misao- donno is in the shower?" Kenshin asked as he set a steaming bowl of miso soup down in front of her. Kaoru whispered a thank you and nodded.

"does she always do that?" Kaoru asked hesitantly.

"Do what?"

"well I don't know, like just shower at your house and go through your fridge and stuff like that."

Kenshin nodded " Misao- donno practically lives here, Aoshi and Sano too"

"Damn Kids" came Hiko's gruff voice from behind his news paper "taking over my house, helping themselves to whatever they please" He looked over the top of his news paper to give Kaoru a stern glance " Feel free to do the same" he said nodding to her before disappearing behind his paper again and grumbling "don't know why I bothered stopping at two kids when I was going to end up with five anyways..."

Kaoru smiled and looked up at Kenshin who gave her the thumbs up.

She liked it here, and Hiko-san really wasn't so scary in the mornings.

--

At nine o'clock, later that morning Sano's car pulled up in front of Nisa's house. Nisa reached out to grab the handle of the passenger side door.

" Well, thank you very much for the ride home"

" No problem ducky-chan" Sano replied with a customary grin.

" No really, I owe you for this" said Nisa looking over at him, she was about ready to open the door when he spoke,

" Well, I know how you can pay me back" Nisa's head turned sharply back towards him

"ah..." she regarded him with trepidation, unable to fathom what he could possibly be thinking although, her mind did momentarily recall the image of Sano standing over her in the kitchen and the feel of his lips against hers, his hand pressing against her back.

"Lunch" Sano said simply, pulling Nisa out of her reverie.

"Lunch?" she repeated skeptically.

"Yeah, lunch. Come out to lunch with me and we'll call it even."

"Sanosuke, I don't know if that's-"

"Come on ducky- chan, you said you owed me, and of all the ways I can think of for you to repay me , I'm pretty sure lunch is the one you'll object to the least."

'I'm not so sure about that' Nisa thought, her mind once again flicking back to the seen in the kitchen, but out loud she said- " Lunch it is then"

"good" said Sano "I have to check in at home then, and get some stuff done, but I'll be back around noon okay?"

"Okay" said Nisa, but before she could go back to opening the door, Sano leaned forwards again, and she froze. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and then sat back in his seat.

"See you later then, Nisa."

Nisa opened the door in a daze, and got her dance bag out of the back seat, before giving Sano a small wave as he pulled away from the curb.

Nisa just stood there in a stupor for several minutes before her ankle gave a aching throb, reminding her that she had sprained it rather badly in dance that morning.

"Alright then" Nisa said to herself. " I am in great need of my ice pack....and coffee."

--

At twelve thirty Sano's car once again pulled up to the curb in front of the Himura household. Sano jogged up the walkway and and let himself in the door without knocking, as was his custom, only to be greeted by Kenshin standing in the entry way, arms crossed.

"...what's up Ken-boy?"

"Sano why are you taking my sister to lunch?" Kenshin got straight to the point.

Slightly startled, Sano just stared at Kenshin for a few seconds before answering cautiously,

"ah... mutual agreement?"

Kenshin frowned, "seriously Sanosuke why are you taking my sister to lunch?"

"Well Kenny- boy I gotta admit, I like your sister. A lot" Kenshin's glare deepened, and then he sighed. He had known as much for a while now, he just hadn't expected Sano to have the balls to make a move on his sister.

"yeah well, you better" warned Kenshin

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Sano indignantly.

"It means that if this just ends up being another mark on you're bed post like with Megumi-"

"Hey, who the hell do you think I am? I would never do that to her, and the fox broke it off with me if you'll care to remember. Besides, this is different."

"how?" Kenshin continued to glare, still defensive.

" I don't know. Nisa's just different, she's special."

" You're damn right she's special!" Kenshin pointed at Sano accusingly, " And if you do anything to make her feel otherwise, I will kick-"

" Ken," Sano interrupted loudly " how long have we been friends, man? You know you can trust me, and you know that I would never go after my best buddy's sister unless I really cared about her, besides it's just lunch for Kami's sake man!" A moment passed, and Sanosuke saw Kenshin visibly relax. Sano was right of course, Kenshin knew, and he would rather have his friend, who he trusted, take Nisa out than some random whack job, like Enishi for instance.

" Alright, " Kenshin finally agreed. "You just better pray my dad doesn't find out about this, or he'll rip your head off and use if as a cork for one of his sake jugs... And thats only after he castrates you."

Satisfied by the look of alarm that passed over Sano's face, Kenshin turned to head up the stair. " I'll go get her, she's in her room."

A few minutes later, Nisa came hopping down the stair on one leg, with one arm draped over Kenshin's shoulders.

"Whoa, Nisa," Sano said frowning "what the hell happened"

"Oh, this is nothing" Nisa answered nonchalantly, waving it off with her free hand " I just twisted my ankle a bit in dance, this stuff happens all the time."

Kenshin let her go when they got to the entry was and she stood, resting her weight on her left foot. "Alright" she said, reaching for her coat, " shall we go then?"

"Sure" said Sano easily, and was about to open the door for her when a gruff voice called from down the hall.

"Where are you going, Nisaomi?" Hiko called, coming to stand in front of the three teenagers.

"Out for lunch Tou-san" Nisa replied, hoping he didn't ask with whom.

"I see, well me and this baka won't be here when you get back." Hiko rumbled, jerking his thumb in Kenshin's direction " We're going to the dojo, Kenshin has been slacking off on his Kenjutsu lately and I'm going to whip the boy back into shape."

Nisa grinned at Kenshin, who gave a long, suffering sigh as Hiko put his hand on Kenshin's shoulder and began steering him towards the door

" Alright I'll see you guys later then" Nisa called to their retreating backs. Kenshin gave a miserable wave to Nisa over his shoulder and a firm look at Sano, who just nodded his head. Nisa got the feeling that some sort of understanding had just passed between them.

When the door closed behind the two, Sano turned to Nisa and gave her an appraising look .

" Nisaomi?"

"Shut up!" Nisa ground out as she marched out the door ahead of him.

Sano just laughed and followed her.

--

Two hours later, and for the third time that day, Sano's car pulled up to the curb in front of the Himura residence. Nisa hopped out of the passengers side, laughing, still not quite able to calm down her fast beating heart.

" I cannot believe we skipped out on the bill" She said, putting her hand on her stomach in an attempt to quell the small amount of excitement, and larger amount of anxiety, that stirred there.

Sano got out of his side of the car, laughing more easily. " Don't worry about it Ducky, I do it all the time" He said nonchalantly

"I can tell " Nisa laughed again in an attempt to further dissipate the nervous fluttering in her chest. " You know I'm going to have to go back and pay the bill for you tomorrow, right?"

" No way!" said Sano " that takes all the fun out of it! Besides, I have a tab there anyways.''

Nisa stared at him for a second before she burst out laughing again, this time in relief, and then teetered dangerously on her good leg.

Sano's hand immediately grabbed her upper arm to steady her.

" you alright there kid?" Nisa nodded as she regained her balance. " Do you need help inside?" Sano offered.

"I'm sure I can make it on my own," she said " but help up the stairs would be muchly appreciated" She stuck out her lower lip slightly as she looked up at him.

"No problem" and before she could protest, Sano scooped her up in his arms and was carrying her toward the house.

He took the steps two at a time, as if she weighed nothing, and when he got to her room he lightly threw her on the bed, where she bounced a few times, giggling slightly. 'Oh god!' Nisa thought to herself, appalled ' since when do I _giggle?'._

Once she got over her introverted horror, Nisa looked up to see Sano studying one of the framed pictures on her dresser. The picture was one of her favorites, it was of her and Kenshin when they were just toddlers. Kenshin was sitting in a big rocking chair with Nisa in his lap. Hiko's shoulder and hand were in the photo, steadying them so they didn't rock over backwards, as was their mother's foot with painted red toenails. She had never been good at taking photos.

Sano looked back to see Nisa had been watching him look at the photo.

"Kenshin has the same one in his room" Sano said, coming to sit down next to Nisa on the edge of the bed. Nisa nodded. They sat there for awhile and Nisa rested her chin on his shoulder. " I don't think I've ever been in your room before" Sano said, breaking the silence.

"That's not true. When you guys were like 14, you and Aoshi used to sneak into my room to try and get a look at me changing, or something."

Sano looked surprised, " I didn't think you noticed us."

"well you guys weren't exactly the masters of stealth, that was some of the most conspicuous peeping in history" Nisa grinned as Sano gave an offended gasp.

" To be fair to Aoshi, It was mostly me," he admitted "I kinda dragged the dude into it."

Nisa laughed lightly, before letting quiet settle over them again.

After a few moments, just as the silence was beginning to buzz in the room , Sano leaned over and kissed Nisa. She tensed slightly, but responded nonetheless, all the while her mind was racing ' what are you doing?' she thought to herself, 'This is going to make things so much more complicated, and will probably bring nothing but problems.' But for once, Nisa found that she didn't feel like caring. There was plenty of time to worry later, and at the moment she just tried to push her unease to the back of her mind. And, as Sano gently pushed her back onto the bed and began kissing her neck, she felt herself relax.

_--_

_A/N _wow this chapter is quite a bit longer than the usual ones, and had a little bit of foreboding at the end there. But I felt that I needed to incorporate a tad bit of drama in there just to stir things up. Any ways, please review, it really does help to get feed back on my writing. What did you like? what didn't you like? I really would like to here from you.

Till next time. Ja matta ne!


	8. In the Aftermath of Destruction

Chapter 8

In the Aftermath of Destruction

Disclaimer: I don't own it, okay? Jeez, get off my back.

--

The next Monday morning was an unusual one for Nisa. Usually, she would sleep as long as possible, waiting until the absolute last second before she had to leave the warmth of her quilt. This morning however, she had been up since quarter to five completely unable to sleep. Since then, she had taken a thirty minute shower, gotten dressed in her school uniform and cleaned her room, making the bed twice. At six, the time she would normally wake up, she heard the door bell ring, and she knew it would be Aoshi and Sanosuke at the door, just like every morning. She heard her father's low voice from down stairs, and she heard Sano answer back in a joking tone.

Nisa got up from where she had been seated on her window sill, from which she had watched Sano and Aoshi walk up up her driveway minutes earlier. She had seen Sano's gaze flick up to her window as he walked past, and she wondered if he had seen her sitting there. Now, she dragged herself back over to her bed and crawled back under the covers, still in her school uniform, to curl up with her stuffed onigiri that Kenshin had bought her for her sixth birthday. Mr Rice had been handed to her by a grinning seven year old kenshin, still in his fire truck pajamas, the morning of her birthday. Mr Rice was a fluffy white ball with a big smile and two round black eyes. He had always been there when she needed him, just like Kenshin always had. Nisa squeezed her eyes shut tight and squeezed Mr. Rice even tighter.

Nisa wasn't sure she could face Sanosuke this morning, not with Kenshin, her father and Aoshi in the room. She felt like, if they saw her and Sano in the same vicinity as each other, everyone would immediately know.

At 6:40, ten minutes after she would normally have gone down to breakfast, she heard a knock on her bedroom door. She didn't answer it, but the door opened anyways and her brother came in and sat on the edge of her bed.

" Hey there sleepy head" he said in a low voice, running his hand up and down her back. " What are you still doing in bed?" Nisa curled herself into a tighter ball.

"I'm tired" she said quietly.

"breakfast is ready, are you gonna come eat? I promise Sano had absolutely no part in the meal preparation this morning." Kenshin joked. Nisa's stomach clenched at hearing Sano's name.

" I'm not really hungry right now. I'll be up in time for school"

"okay then" Kenshin said. With a hand on her shoulder, he gently pried her out of her fetal position so she would turn to face him. He then held out his arms to her, and Nisa sighed before leaning up and giving him a tight hug. Kenshin rocked her from side to side for several moments before finally letting go of his sister and getting up. After ruffling her hair just the way she hated and laughing at the baleful look she shot him, he exited her room, leaving her door slightly ajar.

Through the open space of her bedroom door, Nisa could see her brother's back, Aoshi leaning against the opposite hallway wall and a foot that she was sure belonged to Sanosuke.

" What's wrong?" She heard Aoshi voice ask. She saw her brother's shoulders shrug.

"She says she's tired and doesn't feel like breakfast."

"Hm", was Aoshi's further contribution to that dialog.

Kenshin turned and headed downstairs, directly followed by Aoshi. Sanosuke started to follow but stopped and looked into Nisa's room. Nisa froze when Sanosuke's eyes locked with hers. He stayed there, staring straight at her for what seemed like forever, before he raised his hand and gave her a small wave. Slowly, Nisa raised her hand and waved back. He then turned and followed the guys downstairs.

--

At Seven o'clock the doorbell rang again, and Nisa knew it was Misao. Knowing that Misao wouldn't let her being curled up in bed slide as easily as her brother had, Nisa crawled out of bed, ran her fingers through her hair and headed down into the kitchen.

The second Misao saw Nisa, she knew something was amiss. Nisa had no makeup on and her hair, which she was always very obdurate about keeping up, was down. This was a good indication that something was horribly wrong, and that worlds were headed fast towards collision. So, Misao greeted her with a big, cheerful hug and a kiss on the temple, before taking her hand and leading her into the kitchen for coffee.

Once the girls got themselves coffees ( Nisa took hers black, while Misao's was more milk and sugar than anything) Nisa sat down next to Aoshi at the island, and Misao jumped up on the counter next to where Kenshin was standing.

"Ohayo, Kenshin" Misao greeted cheerfully. Kenshin replied with his usual,

" Ohayo Misao donno" and a brief, cheerful smile. Misao continued on with her routine, turning to Aoshi.

" Ohayo Aoshi" Aoshi looked up from his paper.

" Ohayo Misao" he said in his usual low, even voice, before going back to his paper.

Misao's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Had he just... said hello to her? Misao quickly glanced across the kitchen at Nisa who mouthed 'Oh My God!' at her from across the room, nearly as wide-eyed as Misao was. Slowly, a huge grin began to form on Misao's face. Fuck Yeah! She yelled internally, pumping a fist in the air.

When she looked up to find the three boys and Nisa staring at her, she realized that it might not have been as internally as she had thought.

" umm.... the coffee is very good this morning..." she attempted to cover her slip, before clearing her throat awkwardly, and turning to gaze determinedly out the window, her silly grin still in place. They all ignored Misao's outburst, and were going back to their respective activities just as Sano came up behind Nisa.

" So," he said casually, though quietly enough not to include the room at large in to the conversation, "How are you doing?"

Misao looked over at the conversing pair. She hadn't been able to make out the words, but there was something about the tone of Sano's voice that was a little too serious to just be shooting the breeze. Misao also noticed that as Nisa replied to whatever Sano had said, she was determinedly looking anywhere but at the tori-atama. Nobody else, it seemed, had noticed anything. Misao directed a look across the kitchen at Nisa who just shook her head imperceptibly. 'Oh well,' thought Misao, ' I'll just torture it out of her later'. Realizing how long it had been since she had last fed her obsession, Misao sneaked a quick glance at Aoshi, only to find that Aoshi was starring right back at her. Seconds ticked by as they held eye contact, before Aoshi quirked his eyebrow at her and went back to reading his paper.

Quirking an eyebrow of her own, Misao grinned crazily to herself. 'Fuck yeah!' Misao thought, giving herself a mental pat on the back. ' Makimachi you sly weasel you, heh heh heh!' Much to her chagrin, when Misao looked up, it was to see the occupants of the kitchen staring at her. Once again, maybe not so internal. "heh heh," Misao laughed embarrassedly, " time to go to school!" And with that, she took off for the front porch, top speed. Nisa followed her, snickering at her friends expense.

" Is it just me," Kenshin wondered aloud, " or does every morning end like this?"

--

When the bell for lunch went, Misao left Kaoru, Nisa and Soujiro to eat on the front lawn, to do a little further investigation into Aoshi's new found talkativeness ( the fact that two words was considered talkative for Aoshi was a level of sad that Misao wasn't willing to think about). So, on a mission, Misao hunted down Aoshi's locker , where she found him retrieving his shoes and stowing away his books.

Sidling up next to him Misao lent against the locker beside his and waited for him to notice her presence.

Eventually, Aoshi stopped shuffling through his books and focused his gaze on her.

From the fact that he didn't seem the tiniest bit surprised that she was standing right there, Misao gathered that he had known she was there the entire time. "Hey Aoshi-kun" she chimed happily. Aoshi simply nodded to her, and the return to sifting through his papers.

" How are you?" Misao asked, trying a second stab at provoking some dialog out of the man. Aoshi stared at her.

'...Alright,' thought Misao, 'well this is slightly awkward'. Misao began to shift uncomfortably. The silence was making her uneasy, but it wasn't due to his ignoring her this time. He was giving her his full attention, which was a tad disconcerting, he just wasn't saying anything.

" So...." Aoshi continued to stare at her, as she hurriedly tried to figure out something to say. "Oh! I wanted to thank you for, you know, catching me the other night. If it wasn't for you my brains would be, you know, Splat!" She punctuated this by clapping her hands together zealously. Aoshi studied her for several seconds more.

" It was no trouble," he finally responded in an even voice. Misao exhaled through her nose, grateful that he had made some sort of sound.

" Good," she said " Cause I hoped I hadn't annoyed you too badly, you know. Falling off roofs in my panties isn't exactly something I try to make a habit of, um, yeah...." She trailed off, blushing. Aoshi was staring at her again.

" You speak to much," he said flatly, "did you know that?"

" Oh, yeah, um, sorry 'bout that" Aoshi stared at her for a moment before slowly turning to walk away. ' damn it' thought Misao, hitting herself in the head with the heal of her hand. ' Now he thinks I'm some psycho rambling chick who blabbers incoherently and-'

" Misao?"

"Ack!" Misa looked up quickly to see Aoshi looking back at her. " Yes?" She asked with a cheerful smile. Aoshi turned to face her fully.

" I sometimes eat outside on the lawn, under the big tree." Misao just started at him. 'Ahh...okay then', and what exactly was she supposed to do with that information? Jeez, and he accused her of being random. 'Wait! He isn't... inviting me to eat lunch with him....is he? Misao looked at Aoshi, who was still standing there looking at her, and her face broke into a wide grin. He turned again and started down the hall. Misao took a minute to throw her arms up in the air and wave them about like a maniac, while doing some sort of jig with her feet, before she jogged to catch up with him.

--

Kaoru pushed the door to the girls washroom open and headed down the hall toward the front lawn of the school. She was looking straight ahead of her when she caught sight of Kenshin up the hall. Now, it was her full intention to duck behind one of the groups of students crowding the halls and then run as fast as possible in the opposite direction, but luck was never on her side. Kenshin had already spotted her and was waving her over. So, with a resigned sigh, Kaoru made her way over to where he was standing, leaning against a locker.

"Hey," he said when she got to him.

"Hi" she replied. And then there was silence. Kenshin cleared his throat.

" So look, I'm sorry about Friday, I didn't mean to, ah, startle you or anything." There was something about the look in his eye, and the slight quirk of his lip that told her he was making fun of her. Kaoru frowned.

" No, I'm the one who should apologize, for having been...in your shower...um."

Kenshin grinned. " Right, well if I'd have known you were such a shower curtain enthusiast, I would have made a point of showing you when we gave you the tour of the house."

Kaoru blushed, " oh, ha, yeah..." She cleared her throat. Silence once again reigned supreme.

"So," said Kenshin, looking somewhere over her shoulder, " I guess I'll see you around then?"

" Ya" said Kaoru quickly, " Ja matta ne!" She gave him a small wave and continued on her way while Kenshin continued on his. Halfway down the hall, Kaoru stopped and glanced behind her to see Kenshin's retreating back. She shook her head to herself, before turning to go find Nisa.

--

After lunch, Misao, Nisa, Kaoru and Soujiro all sat together at the back of their math class. Misao was sitting with her head down on her desk, giggling to herself every few minutes ( this probably should have seemed like odd behavior to her friends, but sadly enough, it didn't), Kaoru was getting a head start on her work, Soujiro was twirling his pencil between his fingers and Nisa was searching franticly for her calculator. She dug through her bag and pencil case, unable to find it anywhere. It was so weird, she never misplaced _anything_. Finally abandoning her search, Nisa turned to Soujiro.

" Sou-chan, can I borrow your calculator? I can't find mine."

" Sure," he said, passing it over. Nisa thanked him and took the calculator. She frowned at it.

"...Sou-chan?"

"Yes?"

" This wouldn't happen to just be my calculator with my name scratched off and yours written on instead, would it?"

"So!" Soujiro quickly changed the subject. "How was your guys' sleepover? You know, the one I _wasn't _invited to?" Misao rolled her eyes at him.

" It was fun. I fell off a roof, Kaoru-chan saw Kenshin naked, and Nisa fucked Sano."

"WHAT?" Nisa yelped, looking up, startled. Misao turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"What?" She asked back, surprised by her friends reaction.

" I most certainly did not!" she whispered indignantly, blushing like a mad woman.

" I was kidding" Misao said slowly, now looking at Nisa strangely, " you know, like Ha Ha". Nisa just turned back to her work, staring resolutely at her paper. Misao, Kaoru and Soujiro all continued to stare at Nisa in bewilderment.

" Alright then..." Soujiro turned back to his work. The others followed suit and they worked in silence.

"...So, can I have my calculator back?" Soujiro asked sweetly.

" It's not your calculator!" Nisa snapped.

--

The last bell went for the end of the day and, after Nisa had said goodbye to her friends, she made her way over to where Kenshin, Aoshi and Sano were standing.

" Hey sis", Kenshin greeted when she reached him. " Do you need a ride home?"

" Yeah, I was hoping, is that okay?" Nisa focused on her brother, trying very hard to ignore Sano standing right next to her.

" Well, I've have to go help Aoshi move some stuff out of his garage, but Sano will give you a ride home, kay?" Kenshin tossed his keys to Sano as he spoke, and then leaned over to give Nisa a Kiss on the forehead.

"Oh, um, sure" she said, watching as her brother walked away. Nisa loved the way that, when her brother could tell she was upset about something, he would little things to make her feel better, like calling her 'sis', or giving her a quick hug or kiss when he saw her. It was the same thing Misao did for her.

"Well, you ready then?" Sano asked, lightly resting his hand on her hip. A tingle shot up her spine at the touch.

" Sure, let's go." She wasn't sure how she felt about being alone with Sano, but he reached over and wrapped his large hand around hers and led her towards her brothers car , and she felt some how reassured. She focused on the warmth of his hand around hers and let herself be led.

--

A/N Alright, so there it is. This chapter was a long time coming. I'm going to try fro more frequent updates, but I have been incredibly busy lately. Anyways, sorry for the long wait, and also for any grammar mistakes in this chapter, I didn't take as much time proof reading as I probably should have. Remember to be a pal and REVIEW! I really do like to get feedback on what aspects you guys do and do not like, and it helps me write faster.

Until next time,

Ja Ne!


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